John Ridley just had a great weekend as he won the Best Adapted Screenplay Oscar for his work on 12 Years a Slave. Even if there is still-simmering resentment between him and the film’s director Steve McQueen, taking home that Oscar, and the film’s own Best Picture win, have to have him feeling pretty good.

Ridley has his own directorial debut coming to theaters this year. All Is By My Side chronicles an early year in the career of Jimi Hendrix, picking up where the guitarist was “discovered” in a club by Linda Keith. The film follows Hendrix as he goes to London and assembles his first major band, the Jimi Hendrix Experience, and prepares to play the Monterey Pop Festival.

We haven’t seen a trailer, but below you can see a clip of one scene, in which we see Andre Benjamin as Jimi Hendrix, in a dramatic moment with Linda Keith (Imogen Poots) during a conversation before he heads to Monterey. Read More »

In the end credits of That Awkward Moment, we’re treated to a blooper reel. The footage is typically goofy stuff — stars flubbing lines, knocking over props, cracking dirty jokes, and generally getting silly — but it’s a pleasure to watch because the actors are so damn fun. Zac Efron, Miles Teller, and Michael B. Jordan come across as warm and funny people, and the rapport between them is inviting. I can only imagine that the set must have been a blast.

The film itself, however, is not. Although the premise should, in theory, provide plenty of opportunities for sparks to fly and for the cast’s magnetic personalities to shine through, as they do in the blooper reel, writer/director Tom Gormican seems more interested in shoving the characters along predictable plotlines. The result is a tedious romantic comedy that can’t sell the romance, the comedy, or even the bromance.

Nick Hornby‘s books have long been popular with filmmakers. To date, his bibliography has inspired Stephen Frears’ High Fidelity, two Fever Pitch movies, one About a Boy film, one failed About a Boy TV show, and one upcoming About a Boy TV show. Now the latest of his novels to get adapted is A Long Way Down, a heartwarming tale that begins with four attempted suicides.

Adapted by Jack Thorne and directed by Pascal Chaumeil, the dramedy follows four very different people who meet by chance when they each decide to commit suicide by jumping off of a London skyscraper on New Year’s Eve. As they get to talking, however, they form a bond and ultimately make a pact to live, at least for a little while longer.

The group includes Martin (Pierce Brosnan), a disgraced TV personality; Maureen (Toni Collette), a desperate single mother; Jess (Imogen Poots), a troubled teen; and JJ (Aaron Paul), a failed musician. Watch the first trailer after the jump.

The red-band trailer for That Awkward Moment really lived up to the film’s title, delivering several incredibly awkward moments. But not all of them were SFW, so the new green-band trailer offers a few different, slightly less awkward moments in their place.

Fortunately, this looks like the kind of movie that has more than mere shock value going for it. Rising stars Miles Teller, Zac Efron, and Michael B. Jordan star as three best friends navigating the dating scene together in this Tom Gormican-directed comedy, and seem to have a grand old time of it. Watch the newest promo after the jump.

Breaking Bad might end this week, but you have not seen the last of Aaron Paul. Not by a long shot. He’s starring in next year’s Need for Speed, based on the popular video game series, and the first trailer is now out. Check it out below. Read More »

We’ve still got a few years to go before Danny Boyle gets around to that Trainspotting sequel, but in the meantime Jon S. Baird‘s Filth should tide us over nicely.

Also adapted from an Irvine Welsh novel, the dark comedy stars James McAvoy as bad cop Bruce Robertson. And I mean bad: Bruce is corrupt, violent, drug-addicted, and just plain mean. He’ll happily stomp all over his own colleagues on his way to the top. Ultimately, though, he becomes his own biggest threat when his sanity starts to slip. Jamie Bell, Eddie Marsan, Imogen Poots, and Jim Broadbent also star. Watch the NSFW trailer after the jump.

James McAvoy wasn’t onscreen much in 2012, but 2013 will be a completely different story. The Scottish actor has already hit theaters in Welcome to the Punch and Danny Boyle’s Trance, and he still has the two-parter The Disappearance of Eleanor Rigby: His and The Disappearance of Eleanor Rigby: Hers. Today we have a rather NSFW trailer for yet another of McAvoy’s upcoming releases, the Irvine Welsh adaptation Filth.

Directed by Jon S. Baird, the dark comedy features a bleary, bloated McAvoy as a corrupt cop trying to solve a brutal murder while clawing his way to the top. He’ll stop at nothing to ruin anyone who stands in his way, but his biggest issue is his own faltering grip on reality. Jamie Bell, Imogen Poots, Eddie Marsan, and Jim Broadbent also star. Check out the video after the jump.

The first trailer we saw for Greetings From Tim Buckley, in which Penn Badgley acts and sings as the late musician Jeff Buckley, came in the wake of the film’s TIFF premiere, and has since gone offline. Good thing there’s now an official US trailer for you to check out.

Here, again, you can see Badgley’s solid take on the role, as he seeks to capture the point in Buckley’s life when he takes part in a benefit concert honoring his late father, Tim Buckley. Imogen Poots appears as the young woman who works for the organization putting on the benefit, and to whom Jeff Buckley has a strong attraction. This looks like a very similar trailer, but if you missed that first look last year, this is a good opportunity to give it a glance before the film hits digital platforms in a couple weeks. Read More »

As Dom Toretto and Brian O’Conner rev their engines for Universal’s Fast & Furious 6, DreamWorks is preparing a high-speed franchise of its own. Last spring, the studio nabbed the rights to the EA Sports racing video game Need for Speed and set Scott Waugh (Act of Valor) to direct. Casting got off to a strong start last fall as Aaron Paul and Dominic Cooper joined the cast, picking up Imogen Poots and Kid Cudi along the way. Now it’s bringing on some more grown-up talent, in the form of Michael Keaton. More details after the jump.

We know that Chris Evans is returning for Captain America: The Winter Soldier, but there has been a big question mark over the identity of his primary female co-star. Hayley Atwell was well-liked as Peggy Carter in Captain America: The First Avenger, but that film’s final jump forward in time makes the character not viable for the sequel.

And so there’s room for a new presence in Captain America 2, which will be directed by Joe and Anthony Russo. Marvel is choosing among a number of popular young actresses for the role, with tests taking place. The nature of the part is undisclosed at this point, but the names suggest a key love interest. Read More »